“Will do,” Maud responded before putting the comm from her matra through.
“Zayda darling,” Zoya Sparks greeted her with a wide smile which emphasized the family resemblance between the two. They differed in skin tone and eye color. Zayda inherited the purple skin tone and eye color of her patra’s people, the Xirins, while her matra’s brown skin tone and eye color were from her people, the Redemptites. If people were superficial enough to try to determine family relationships based on skin color alone, they would assume the four orphans aboard Zayda’s ship were more related to Zoya Sparks then her own daughta was.
“Matra.” Zayda was wary. Her matra was in too good of a mood. This was unusual. Whenever Zayda departed on a cargo run and her matra contacted her prior to undocking it typically involved a lecture about how she was wasting valuable time flitting around the universe when she should be settling down with a mate and producing younglings at a steady rate for their grandmatra to spoil. Yes, a happy matra on departure day was something to be very cautious about. Especially after her dodging her patra at the jail and her receiving the royal decree.
“I just wanted to wish you luck and to thank you for not fighting me.” The wide smile that spread across her matra’s face put her on alert. Something was going on that Zayda wasn’t aware of.
“You’re welcome,” she was cautious in her response.
“You just don’t realize how happy you have made me that you are not fighting me on the royal decree.”
“W…what?” Zayda sputtered.
“Oh yes, Maud just transmitted your confirmation to my social secretary a little while ago.” Now her matra was practically bouncing in her seat. Zayda emitted a long, deep breath of sadness. She was a selfish person. But not much of a one that she would destroy the happiness on her matra’s face and Maud, that sneaky X-Mont III, knew this. She neatly trapped Zayda into going to an event that not even a one hundred fully fueled starships would have been able to drag her to. Zayda would have found some excuse to be on the other side of the galaxy on the day of the traditional Celestial Ball and risked going to prison to avoid attending.
The Celestial Ball was the event to celebrate the day of birthing for the Grand Matriarch. She wondered if she told her matra that she had not one, but two mates it would get her out of having to attend it.
But that would then leave her with two mates that she didn’t want to interfere in her life. Especially Pylotorian males. Their overprotective patriarchal society was well known throughout the Redemption galaxy as it sat on the border between Redemption and the Milky Way. No, the last thing she needed was two overprotective males trying to tell her how to run her life.
But Maud’s action called for revenge.
Maybe she would give the X-Mont III that worked in the waste processing plant on GTR Maud’s comm code. He’d been trying to hook up with her every time Sparks Fly was in the docks.
A wicked grin crossed Zayda’s face at that thought. Maud was going to find out what it was like to have someone interfere in her life.
Zayda chatted a little longer with her matra before signing off. Nodding her agreement that she would contact her as soon as she returned to GTR. She flopped down into a comfortable overstuffed seat. Her head falling back, breathing a sigh of relief at the pleasant conversation. It wasn’t often that a comm called ended between her and her matra without a lot of tears and shouting. She didn’t know how she felt about that. She was a creature of routine and this whole day things were happening outside of their norms. It was freaking her out.
The comm on her wall chimed before information started scrolling across it. Zayda sat up, her tiredness disappearing as information about her mates was displayed. Bless Maud and her information gathering little heart. She was pretty sure that some of the things she was looking at were classified, but she didn’t care. It gave her insight into her mates. She made herself comfortable as she sorted through the information.
Chapter Six
Zayda strode into the gym where the four younglings had been ordered to meet her. There was plenty of time for her to evaluate their fighting skills before they were cleared for departure by GTR Space Command.
She observed the females as they lolled about the gym making no attempt to use any of the equipment. Everyone on Sparks Fly was required to take part in physical activity to counteract the effects of space on the body. If they had continued to travel on the luxury liner then they would have participated in age-appropriate activities, but their antics had lost them that privilege and so now they were at the mercy of Zayda and she was in the mood to whip some new recruits into shape.
“Listen up.” She spoke in a firm tone to the four females. She had taken the time she spent in her quarters to look over their files. All four females had lost at least one parent in the same shuttle accident. Octavia and Destiny were true orphans as both of their parents were killed in the accident.
Whereas Elise and Ember both had a surviving parent, their Patras. Elise’s patra was on active duty in the Intergalactic Militia, IGM and away on top-secret assignments with his squad. Ember’s patra was a planet miner with the Hardin Corporation, one of the few Terran companies that emigrated to GTR, which meant that he was always dirtside leaving his daughter an orphan in theory if not in fact.
Needless to say, all of the females had abandonment issues of some type, but that still didn’t give them the right to act like little hellions and run around disobeying adults who were trying to raise them into decent citizens able to contribute something to the galaxy.
Zayda’s eyes narrowed when only one of the females stood up. She identified her as Elise, the one that wanted to be a pilot in the IGM, just like her patra.
She marched over to the other three where they continued to lounge. She reached down and removed the computronic from Ember’s hands.
“Hey, I was using that,” She protested, standing up to retrieve the computronic from Zayda’s hand.
With her free hand, Zayda reached out, grasping ahold of Ember’s shoulder in the spot that was just a little to the right of her neck and applied pressure. Three seconds later Ember dropped to the floor, unconscious. She tossed the computronic in the direction of a soft mat. Either it survived being thrown around, or it didn’t, Zayda really didn’t care.
“By the voice of the Purple One, you killed her,” Octavia shouted as she jumped up from her seated position on the floor.
“She is not dead, but if you younglings ignore me or any adult when they give you a direct order you may find yourself in that position.” Zayda didn’t have time to coddle these younglings.
Zayda knew from the way they had been rolling around in their poor excuse of a fight on the docks that none of the younglings had any defensive skills and she was going to teach them to defend themselves or at the very least give them the skills to get free of a captor so that they could run away and hide until they were rescued.
“Listen, lady. I don’t know who you think you are, but you are not the boss of us.” Destiny stood up as she spoke to Zayda. She only reached mid-chest on Zayda and she was still young enough to obtain some height. But first, she would have to live beyond the next few minutes and the tone she used with Zayda made Zayda doubt the possibility of that happening.
“No, you listen youngling.” Zayda made sure she invaded Destiny’s personal space as she spoke to her, “ as I told you on the docks. My name is Captain Zayda Sparks. You shall address me as Captain and nothing else. If something other than Captain comes out of your mouth you will spend the time until departure in the brig.
The more you are disrespectful the more time you will spend in the brig. If your brig time should happen to exceed the amount of time it takes to reach our destination, then your meals will consist of water and the minimum amount of nutrition that it takes to maintain your current weight. If you are still not convinced and continue your pattern of disrespect to either me or any adult, then the temperature in the brig will be lowered by one degree for on
e hour for every disrespect word that you have uttered.” She stepped away to address all the younglings.
“This is not a luxury liner. You had your chance on that but didn’t know how to act. I don’t care who is to blame. If one of you fails, then all of you fail. You are a team. It is up to each and every one of you to be responsible for your actions. It is up to each and every one of you to pull your weight on your team. If one fails. The whole team fails. I do NOT accept failure.” Zayda made sure to make eye contact with each of the conscious females.
“Now you are to run four laps around this gym while I set up your exercise routine. When I say run, I mean run. If you can talk to your sistahs, then you are not running hard enough.” She reached up and pulled Ember up onto her feet. She swayed groggily before getting her bearings. “I want you to walk the first lap and then run the other three,” she ordered Ember before giving her a gentle shove in the direction she wanted her to go. She watched silently as Ember weaved a little in the direction she pointed her before steadying and picking up her pace.
Zayda turned back to the other three, “Begin.” She observed two of the females start running before turning to the fourth one. Destiny was determined to push her defiance to the brink.
“I’m not running and there is nothing you can do to make me.” She crossed her arms across her chest and sat down on the mat at Zayda’s feet.
Zayda smiled at her. The smile must have been frightening to Destiny because her brown skin blanched though she kept a recalcitrant look upon her face.
“Maud,” Zayda addressed the X-Mont III in a pleasant voice.
“Captain,” Maud responded using her title. Her ultimate duty was to keep Zayda safe, therefore the rules of privacy didn’t pertain to her. She didn’t reveal the conversations she heard unless it threatened the safety of Sparks Fly and therefore of Zayda.
“Will you please transport our guest directly to the brig.”
“Right away Captain.”
“You can’t throw….” Maud transferred Destiny before she finished her sentence. Octavia, Elise, and Ember stopped running at the disappearance of their friend.
Zayda quirked an eyebrow at them. They quickly picked up their pace as they continued their laps around the track.
Sometimes being the one in charge had its perks.
Chapter Seven
Riodan looked around the quarters he and Piele were assigned. For a captain who never had passengers, he was surprised at the size of it. The quarters were large and luxuriously appointed. Carpeting on the floor. Paintings on the walls. Real plant life in the room. Even the huge bed with a black duvet covering was unexpected along with a mountain of pillows in different sizes piled high up on it. It was better appointed than their version of the ship and they only used the Burning Duo for private travel.
He recognized the paintings of several exotic planets hung on the walls as accents including one of Faatania, the planet he and Piele had just finished vacationing at.
The plush light blue carpeting covered the floor instead of the usual metal found on most spaceships. The room even came with its one separate lav. These were things found on luxury liners, not an independent freighter ship where space was a commodity. They wouldn’t have to share a lav one with the younglings, which was a good thing. The ship was large enough for each of them to have their own quarters with a separate lav. So far, he didn’t see any signs of a crew. The ship must be fully automated for Captain Sparks to fly something as large as Sparks Fly by herself.
They would be able to get in the sonic shower, the preferred method of maintaining cleanliness in space while conserving water, which wouldn’t happen for days if they were sharing with the females. Perhaps it was due to age, but the girls played into the stereotype of females taking forever in the bathroom. In this day and age, it still surprised him that plenty of females depended on their looks to get by.
He had been raised by a tough female who counted on her skills for survival, not her looks. She still told them stories of how she had to continually prove herself growing up in the patriarchal society of Pyloto. How she didn’t fit in with their ideal of how a female should stay home and be protected. There were not many females such as his matra. He had hoped to mate with such a female but had long ago reconciled to the fact that they were going to end up with some little delicate female that would depend on them for protection. Having met Captain Spark he realized that the Purple One in his divine wisdom had gifted him with his ideal mate.
Riodan sat in a comfortable chair that leaned back in a little seating area next to the large window that showed a view of GTR’s docks. It had enough space for him to set up his portable computronic system. He ignored Piele pacing around their quarters. Every once in a while, he would stop his pacing to pick up a knick-knack only to set it back down in its exact spot without really seeing it before moving on to his next destination.
Piele stopped his frustrated pacing. “Well.” He demanded.
“Well, what?” Riodan refused to look at up from the computronic.
“The captain of this ship is our mate.”
“Noticed, that did you?”
“What do you think of Captain Sparks,” Piele tried to be nonchalant, but Riodan could feel his eyes burrowing into him.
Riodan smiled. He was surprised that his bratha lasted this long without asking. They must have been alone for a whole five minutes.
“She is hot,” he teased.
“She is more than hot.” Piele sighed as he remembered the fluid grace of her movements as she took down the Tiagerian and his crew in Bleu Hell. “She is absolutely fucking fantastic. And our mate.”
“Hmmm, so what your saying is that you want to get to know her better.”
“Hell yeah, don’t you?”
The good thing about being twins was that they were usually on the same page. It’s what made them such a good team. When they mated with their true mate, a bond would form that would allow them to share their mate’s feelings. Sometimes, such as now, he could share his brathas feelings, but it would be more consistent once they mated to their true mate. “I want to lick her like an ice cream cone on a hot sunny day.” His grin grew at the thought. “Then mate her.”
“Now that is two activities that I can get on board with.” Piele stopped pacing to finish putting his belongings away. When he was done he sat down across from Riodan.
“I am going to go try my patented charm on Captain Sparks. I will see you in a few.” Piele practically flew out of his seat, rearing to go.
“You’re going to clunk her on the head and chain her to our bed?” Riodan couldn’t help but tease. Ladies flocked to Piele, so it wasn’t often that he had to do the chasing. His eagerness to pursue Captain Sparks was something new. Riodan didn’t remember him ever being this riled up over a female especially not one he only known for a short time. He thought for sure he would fight the mating. Especially since he didn’t believe in long-term relationships.
Give them a smooth, charming smile and the females were all over Piele. That didn’t work for Riodan. Luckily for him. Females admired brains as much as they did brawn. He likes to take his time and form a strategy. He was a patient hunter and he enjoyed stoking that desire in the female he desired. He licked his lips at the thought, Captain Sparks, eyes filled with lust for him, now wouldn’t that be a sight to behold?
“Hey, females like being chained to our bed. They said it was exciting. I am sure I can convince Captain Sparks that she wants to experience the same excitement."
“We need to convince her to spend the rest of her life with us, not just have a fling.” Riodan pointed out to Piele.
“That is where my patent charm comes in handy,” Piele grinned in confidence. Assured that he would be able to convince Captain Sparks to mate with them.
“Good luck.” Riodan chuckled as he stood up to finish putting his own things away. While Piele darted off to get started on his tried and typically effective straightforward tactic, Riodan
took his time. As he organized the room, he organized his thoughts, deciding how he wanted to approach getting Captain Sparks into his bed and eventually mated to them before she even thought of a reason not to be.
He and Piele had shared females in the past, but there was something about Captain Sparks that well…set sparks off in him.
It could be her lush purple skin or her wildly curly black hair. Maybe it was her long confident stride or that look in her eyes that commanded everyone’s attention. He had always been drawn to strong intelligent females who were able to fight for themselves and those they cared about.
His protection was the last thing Captain Sparks needed. Hell, she would probably kick his ass if he tried to offer it. It was apparent in how she carried herself that she was used to being in charge of a situation.
The condition of their room was another indication. Nobody who wasn’t successful at their business wouldn’t be able to have such luxuries in space. Ships were too easily damaged. A hull breach and you could lose a whole section of a ship. Only those confident in their ship’s designs and with adequate weaponry would risk carrying beyond the basic for survival on a ship. And Sparks Fly went way beyond the basics.
Sparks Fly was much smaller than the battlecruisers that they flew on while they were in the Intergalactic Militia, but it could easily carry a crew of several hundred. From the little bit that he had seen of the ship, he hadn’t seen any other body aboard except for them. He would have to explore the other decks of the ships to see what they contained. He was curious about the cargo that Captain Sparks traded in. He knew from the Dockmaster that she didn’t deal in the trafficking of beings, but that didn’t mean she didn’t skate the line between legal and illegal cargo.
Captain Zayda Sparks was a confident sexy female. The way she took control of things on the docks and told them how she was doing things showed she was a female used to being in charge. A female like that found a way to make credits.
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